Exact same request works in browser but not in my app!!!

[Alexandre Folgueras]

Hello all, I have an application that posts requests through an https connection to a web server. When everything goes well, the server is supposed to send me an xml file. Once my String is encoded and ready to be sent, it looks something like this:


InputSegments=%3c%3fxml+version%3d%221.0%22+encoding%3d%22UTF-8%22%3f%3e%3cCNCustTransmitToEfx+



So when I send it, I receive an error from the server saying that the request is incorrect. But when I copy paste the request String to the browser, it works great!!! So I can't figure out what is wrong here... I am posting my function hoping that somebody will be able to help me:

  private static class SecuredConnectionInstantiator extends Thread
  {
    public boolean stop = false;
    
    private int returnCode = -1;
  
    private String securedUrl = null;
    private String xmlRequest = null;
    private String outputFile = null;
  
    public void run()
    {
      try
      {     
        URL objUrl = null;
        HttpsURLConnection urlc = null;
        String inputLine = null;
        StringBuffer xmlResponse = null;
        
        xmlResponse = new StringBuffer();
        objUrl = new URL(securedUrl);
        urlc = (HttpsURLConnection)objUrl.openConnection();
    
        if (urlc == null || objUrl == null) 
        {
          throw new MalformedURLException();
        }
        urlc.setUseCaches(false);
        urlc.setDoInput(true);
        urlc.setDoOutput(true);
        urlc.setRequestProperty("Content-Type","application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
        urlc.setRequestMethod("POST");
 
        OutputStream out = urlc.getOutputStream();
        OutputStreamWriter writer = new OutputStreamWriter(out);
        String tmp = encode(xmlRequest);
        tmp = "InputSegments=" + tmp + "&cmdSubmit=Submit";
        System.out.println(tmp);
        writer.write(tmp);
        writer.flush();
        writer.close();
        
        //Si le thread n'a pas �t� intterompu, on obtient la r�ponse et on
        //l'enregistre sur disque.
        if (!stop)
        {
          BufferedReader xmlResponseReader = new BufferedReader(new InputStreamReader(objUrl.openStream()));
          BufferedWriter xmlFileWriter = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(outputFile)); 
      
          while ((inputLine = xmlResponseReader.readLine()) != null)
          {
            xmlResponse.append(inputLine + EOL);
            xmlFileWriter.write(inputLine);
            xmlFileWriter.flush();
          }
          
          xmlResponseReader.close();
          xmlFileWriter.close();
          
          //La requ�te s'est termin�e normalement...
          returnCode = 0;
        }
      }
      catch (MalformedURLException e)
      {
        //Erreur lors de l'appel...
        //returnCode = code d'erreur...
      }
      catch (IOException e)
      {
        //Erreur d'E/S...
        //returnCode = code d'erreur...
      }        
    }
 

Your help will be greatly appreciated!

Alex

[ UD: added code tags ]
[ January 20, 2006: Message edited by: Ulf Dittmer ]

[Ulf Dittmer]

This looks more like an I/O question; I'll move the thread to the I/O and Streams forum. Please find it there, and continue the discussion.

[Ulf Dittmer]

Using the browser issues a GET request, while your code issues a POST. Maybe the server doesn't accept POSTs?

[Sameer Damle]

just wanted to point out

 private String securedUrl = null;
...
...
objUrl = new URL(securedUrl);
 
   

your securedUrl variable is not initialised to any value....

could this be a problem???

[Alexandre Folgueras]

Thank you all for your replys, it is very appreciated!

First, I've tried to set the method to GET, but it still does not work... Second, for the securedURL variable that does not seem to be instantiated, it actually is, the method is part of a thread and all necessary variables were initialized before starting the thread...

The requests actually "talks" to the server because I'm able to read the error message the server gives me on the BufferedReader. It says ( Invalid input segments". The company who owns the server cannot offer me any support, but they told me that if I get this error, it's that I am not posting the request correctly ( the error is not the content of the request but the way I send it )

If you guys have anymore ideas, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Alex

[Ulf Dittmer]

You might try not encoding your request. That encoding is just for URLs, but if you're posting XML, you should send ">", "<", " " etc. unchanged.

[Alexandre Folgueras]

The server's doc actually says that I must encode the data, including the XML. But after reading your post, I tried not to encode it but it still does not work...

But if I copy the exact same encoded String that I am sending to the OutputStreamWriter and send it to the browser, it works!

Anymore ideas?

Thank you!!!

[Paul Clapham]

You might try a product like Jakarta Commons HttpClient, which takes care of details that you and I probably don't even know about.